Big Chuck Says: “Could Somebody Please Clean This Mess Up?”

Many weeks ago there were incidents that took place in front of the former Stevens Hardware Store on Main Street. The results were smashed windows.

I get it. Bad things happen.

But why, several weeks later, must all of us in Oneonta, and those who pass through, have to look at this mess day after day after day? I just don't get it. The windows are filthy. They are crudely boarded up and the hundreds of thick, shards of broken glass are visible inside the store windows as if proudly on display.

No matter how many millions of dollars our city, or any community, gets to enhance the attractiveness and vitality of its downtown area, when this stuff is allowed to go on endlessly it is ridiculous.

How many parents, here visiting their student children, have walked by there and thought, "Wow. This must be a rough town." Or how many summer tourists came down the sidewalk this summer, seen this unsightly scene, and thought, "God, doesn't' anybody care in this town?"

I understand that there are probably insurance reasons for not tampering with an accident scene before a settlement can be reached. Maybe even some charges are pending from the incident. Whatever. There is simply NO EXCUSE for whomever the owners of this building are to not at the very least clean up the pieces of glass on display for all to see. I think it looks disgusting.

Next door you see the heroic efforts of Teresa's Emporium trying to keep her store front windows pretty, interesting and attractive. Then, next door, it looks like a riot took place.

Can somebody please clean this crap up? Ten minutes, tops. An $8.00 broom and dust pan. Boom, done . It does nobody any good to have this blight on Main Street day after day. No matter how many millions of dollars we receive it is these little "paper cut issues" that can eventually bleed the life out of a town.